Today book two in Kennedy Layne’s Surviving Ashes series, Hidden Flames, is out. Kennedy has shared with us an exclusive excerpt from the book! Be sure to pick up your copy today!

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There were a few things that got Owen Quade through his multiple combat tours. One was the dream of riding a custom motorcycle on a winding mountain road. The former Marine had finally managed to complete that goal, and along the way he’d gained his own bike shop and the mechanic to go with it. She was a rare beauty, and he wasn’t talking about his bike either.

Prue Whitaker preferred working on engines over rubbing shoulders with people, and that included her boss. She’d learned the hard way that men weren’t as reliable as the hogs she could repair and she kept her distance from those who didn’t feel the same way. She’d been successful until she’d recently shared a scorching kiss with Owen.

One phone call had changed everything. A catastrophic event is on the verge of occurring, forcing them to pack up and leave everything behind. Prue is driven to trust Owen, who’s given his word that he can get her to safety. Through the endless days of darkness, passion and intrigue await them as they make their way through ashes and into the flames of tomorrow.

“Mav must have been talking about the earthquake that occurred yesterday,” Owen said, standing as he picked up his coffee mug. He needed more caffeine with the way this discussion was headed, not that he really believed that the apocalypse was upon them. But something on a smaller scale? That was believable. “So what you’re telling me is that Ernie thinks the supervolcano underneath Yellowstone National Park is about to erupt. Wouldn’t that have been plastered all over the news?”

“That’s just it, Owen.” The somber tone that Berke spoke in managed to take Owen back in time to when they were in combat. It was a precursor for bad shit to happen. Fate wouldn’t be that cruel, would she? He grimaced, thinking he had shitty luck if that was the case. “I managed to get a hold of Paige. It’s bad. It’s a lot worse than the state and federal governments are letting on.”

“How bad?” Owen cautiously asked, not sure he was ready to hear the answer. It had taken him years to obtain a small business loan to buy the motorcycle shop he was currently standing in. It had taken another year and a half to build his bike the way he had always wanted it. He saw movement in his peripheral vision that caused him to look out the semi-opaque window into the bay of the garage. Technically it was smudged with enough exhaust residue to make even him cringe, but it was the sight on the other side that held his attention. His mechanic, Prue Whitaker, was another thing he’d waited a long time to have and he was slightly closer to having her in his life…and he wasn’t talking about his business. She was worth every torturous minute she’d made him wait and he wasn’t ready for Berke to tell him that it was all going to be gone in a blink of an eye. “Because I gotta tell you…I’m not ready for a fucking apocalypse, man.”

“Let me break this to you gently, shit-for-brains.” Berke never sugarcoated anything and Owen slammed his coffee cup on the small table he’d set up to hold the coffee maker. He tightened his grip on the ceramic in preparation of what was about to be said. It wasn’t nearly enough of an anchor. “The caldera is going to erupt very soon. There will be nothing left of the continental United States and the only chance of your survival is for you to get your ass to Washington ASAP. Mav and Ernie seem to think the fishing lodge is protected by the valley it’s situated in and worst case scenario…we’ll use the bunker once the area becomes untenable. You need to pack up what you can and leave now. Go north from Florida until you hit the Canadian border and then make your way over to Lost Summit in the best time you can manage. That’s the safest route because you don’t want to get caught in the Midwest when the caldera erupts.”

Owen took a moment to let the impact of what Berke was saying settle over him. Some people would think their friend was pulling some kind of sick joke with such morbid hearsay, but the trust he had with his friends wasn’t built in a day. They’d been friends through hell and back during multiple combat tours and a bond like that was never truly broken—forged in the fires of hell itself. If Berke was telling him to get his ass to Washington…he’d better well do it.

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Kennedy Layne—USA Today Bestselling Author

First and foremost, I love life. I love that I’m a wife, mother, daughter, sister…and a writer.

I am one of the lucky women in this world who gets to do what makes them happy. As long as I have a cup of coffee (maybe two or three) and my laptop, the stories evolve themselves and I try to do them justice. I draw my inspiration from a retired Marine Master Sergeant that swept me off of my feet and has drawn me into a world that fulfills all of my deepest and darkest desires. Smoldering romance, military men, intrigue, with a little bit of kinky chili pepper (his recipe), fill my head and there is nothing more satisfying than making the hero and heroine fulfill their destinies.

Kennedy can be found on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and KennedyLayne.com!